Out of the Frying Pan, And Into the Fire
by Dologram
Summary: My response to the 'Don't Fear The Reaper' challenge, as set by Reptillia28. Yeah, I'm late to the party. I also don't care. Challenge details inside.
1. Bat Out of Hell

STORYLINE:*) Harry is killed at 17 during the fight with Voldemort. He's sent to his Death's office (explained later) and finds out that this isn't the first time that this has happened.

*) Harry's Death (who can have a human name) is mad at his arrival. Apparently, people dying before their time is a black mark on the various Deaths' records, and Harry is getting perilously close to getting this particular one fired.

*) When Harry asks what was supposed to have happened, Death goes off on a rant saying how he was supposed to have killed Voldemort, found his soulmate ("Some Granger girl…") and lived to be a centennial age. But since Harry keeps getting into life-threatening situations for one reason or another, he keeps dying before that happens. Harry is surprised about the soul mate part.

*) Death gives Harry a paper to sign that allows him to retain his memories (the previous times, he wasn't given this option for some reason). Harry is deposited to a previous time of the writer's choosing.

*) Eventually, Harry gets it right. He kills Voldemort, gets the girl, and lives to a ripe old age of whatever. And Death doesn't get fired.

REQUIREMENTS:

*) Harry must have died at least three times before this one

*) The memory keeping contract must be included

*) Death must refer to Hermione as "some Granger girl" when Harry's soul mate turns up in his rant

*) Obviously, must be H/Hr

*) Have fun

OPTIONAL:

*) Dumbledore's manipulations can be a factor in Harry's premature demises"

 **Bat Out of Hell**

Harry Potter's sudden death came as a shock to everyone - not least of which himself. One moment he had been amidst the battle of Hogwarts, and the next there was a horribly sickening drop beneath him. However, Harry Potter had never been one to complain. He had finally kicked the bucket on the mortal plane, and now it was time to see his dead friends and family. So why was this infuriating man in front of him denying him such a thing?

"You could be waiting here for a while," The infuriating man said monotonously. "And your friends and family wouldn't be able to visit for long."

"So?" Harry argued. "I'm going to see them anyway, aren't I? After whatever it is I'm waiting for? I'll see them, then I'll go to this meeting, and then I'll see them again! I know how the afterlife works"

"On your own head," The infuriating man shrugged from behind his stark white desk, and he waved his gloved hand. "They're on their way. Now please stop distracting me. I have a lot of deaths I need to log."

"Thank you!" Harry said. " _Finally_!"

The infuriating man nodded and made a slight shooing motion. Scowling at him, Harry moved away from the desk and inspected the room around him. It was the brightest white from floor to ceiling, made of some material that Harry couldn't identify. There were no doors or windows, and Harry briefly wondered if there was a way into or out of the room. There were no lamps, or anything to emit it, and yet the room was bathed in bright light. It defied all laws of physics, and didn't seem to care. Having lived in a world of magic, things like that shouldn't surprise him anymore.

Even as he was contemplating this however, the entire left wall melted away, leading to another room. This one contained people. Four to be exact.

"There you go," Said the infuriating man, in his ever so infuriating voice. "Four humans plucked from the Great Stream of Life and Death. Just like fish. How... quaint."

"Sirius? Remus?" Harry said, finding himself choking on emotions. "Mum? Dad?"

"Hello Harry," Remus said lightly, his hair looking softer and more well-kept than it ever had in his later life. He wore a completely white three piece suit, cleaner than seemed possible. "It's been a while."

Harry made a noise that burbled from his mouth like a strangled laugh, and his eyes turned to his Dogfather. The man's usually long hair was cropped short. It was a strange look on him, and not one that Harry could altogether say he liked. He wore a suit identical to Remus's.

"Hey pup. You couldn't wait to die normally to see me, huh? You big softie," Sirius grinned, showing brilliant white teeth.

"Ignore him," said a red-haired woman in a brilliant white dress. To Harry, she looked like an angel. Her green eyes crinkled as she smiled. "It's good to finally meet you, Harry. It's been so long."

"Youngest Seeker in a century!" James Potter scoffed, throwing his arms out. "Are you _kidding_ me? I'm so proud of you!"

Harry jumped into his dad's arms and gave his dad a hug and his dad laughed - and it was his dad. His _dad_.

"We couldn't be more proud of you, Harry," Lily Potter said sincerely, wrapping her own, slender arms around her boys. Sirius blew a raspberry at them, but it wasn't long before he and Remus joined in as well. Harry could feel the warmth of their bodies, but even though his ear was pressed to his dad's chest, he felt no heartbeat. He supposed that wasn't necessary in the afterlife.

They talked for what felt like hours.

Harry sat down with his back against his mother's chest, facing Remus and Sirius whilst his dad had an arm around Lily. Lily gently stroked Harry's hair.

"Honestly," James was saying. "If he didn't look exactly like me, I'd doubt he was even my son. He's Lily through and through."

"I hope you aren't saying that as though it's a bad thing," Lily said in a voice that was far too sweet, earning a quick mock gasp from James.

"Ooh!" Remus winced exaggeratedly.

"Someone's going to be in the dog house tonight - and it isn't me!" Sirius crowed in a sing-song tone that warbled. Harry laughed at the pair.

"Besides," Lily continued, ignoring her friends. "He is far braver than I am. And he has your rebellious streak, plus your love of Quidditch. _And_ your knack for breaking the rules. _And_ -"

" _Okay_ , I get it," James grumbled. "Always right, aren't you Lils?"

"Well I'm never wrong." She smirked, giving her husband a quick peck on the cheek.

"How's your love life been then, Harry?" Sirius quickly changed the subject. "Finally start with Hermione? Brainy birds are the naughtiest you know!"

"Well-" Harry started.

"What Sirius is trying to say," Remus smiled, shooting his friend a grin. "Is if you're waiting for anyone special."

Harry went to answer, but was interrupted by the infuriating man, who was writing something down on a clipboard.

"Harry Potter?" He asked in that bored voice of his. "Your Reaper will see you now."

"Our time is up, it seems," Remus said, brushing some imaginary lint from the shoulder of his impeccable suit as he stood. "It's never a good idea to keep a Reaper waiting."

" _My_ Reaper _?_ " Harry asked. " _What?_ I thought there was only _one_ Death _?_

"Your Reaper," the infuriating man repeated, not looking up. "And they are none too pleased to see you again."

Harry's head whipped from his family to the man and back again. "Did you just say ' _again'?_ "

"Yes I did. If I had realised you were hard of hearing, I would have amplified my voice." The infuriating man said, bored.

Sirius let out a snort and James tried to cover a laugh. Lily attempted to look stern, she really did, but her smile cracked through in the end.

"Remus is right, Harry," she said. "It's best if you go and see him now."

"Or her!" Piped up Sirius. "Mine had some _cracking_ knock-"

Lily swatted him over the head and he flashed her a roguish grin. Behind her, he cupped his hands in front of his chest and jiggled them up and down.

"I, uh, yeah, okay." Harry swallowed a laugh. "I'll see you after, right?"

Something flashed slightly in James's eyes, and instead of saying anything, he just waved.

"Right?" Harry asked again, more insistently this time.

They started to fade, and the wall started to reform in front of him.

" _Right?_ " He panicked, feeling tears threatining to fall.

They vanished then. The wall became solid, and Harry was left in the room where he had first appeared upon his death.

He was truly alone now. Even the infuriating man wasn't there anymore.

Around him, the room started to shift. Harry staggered against the nearest wall for support, even as they started to morph. The walls twisted and darkened under his touch, and the desk bled from white into a dark oak. The floor became solid ebony boards wood, and two armchairs that each looked sinfully comfortable grew from the floor on either side of the desk. The walls sprouted frames, and paintings and portraits blossomed within them. The room was dark, dimly lit from an oil lamp on the wood of a corner table. On the business end of the desk, sat a skeleton in a navy suit. He had a matching fedora cocked at a jaunty angle.

"Are you-?" Harry's breath hitched, and the figure smoothly finished his sentence.

"Death?" It asked. "Why yes. Yes I am."

Harry approached the desk, regaining some of his confidence and courage. He was already dead. What more could happen to him? Worst-case scenario, he could go to hell. What would Hermione do? Force herself to act as level-headed as possible. Rationality was good, after all. Maybe she would act like this was a normal conversation? How did people start conversations again? Names would be good.

"Do you have a name? Or are names beneath you?"

 _Oh. That was a bit ruder than I intended._

The grinning teeth of the skull did not change, but it tilted its head slightly as though curious. "I am known as the Validator, as that would appear to be my purpose."

"So, I have to talk to you to get to the afterlife, is that it?"

"In essence. But of course there is more to it than that."

"Well, of course there is." Harry said as though it were obvious, his tone somewhat bitter. "Typical really, considering it's me you're dealing with here. I don't suppose you're going to tell me exactly what's in store for me, are you? Heaven or Hell, y'know?"

"True understanding comes later."

"True understanding usually does."

It straightened, flexing gloved fingers, before snapping them, causing a large file to appear on the desk. "Indulge me, Harry. You are a warrior?"

"When I need to be."

"You are a violent man." It stated.

"When I have to be."

"Is it, do you think, an appropriate response to the world around you?"

"Violence?" Harry asked. "Violence is never the answer, until it's the only answer."

The skeleton started to flick through the file, not looking up at Harry as he sat down. "Your words are weary, for one so young."

"They're just well-travelled. If I could save the world with words, I would. I'd lay down my wand and I'd talk until my bones turned to dust. But words are for reasonable people, and too often the people I meet are far from reasonable."

"You have blood on your hands."

"I do, so other people don't have to," said Harry.

"But that is not why you fight. You fight because the fight is all you have. You fight because you _enjoy_ it."

"Don't you think for one damned _second_ that I like fighting a war," Harry spat vehemently. "I've fought this war my whole life because I _had_ too. It's all I've known. Trust me when I say I'd _love_ to know more than the stupid fight. What are you looking for, anyway? An insight into my soul? You want to shock me into admitting some dark little secret that I've been hiding away for all these years? I've just spoken to the ghosts of my friends, the ghosts of my parents... I saw my parents. After all these years, I saw the face of my mother again. So forgive me, but I'm all shocked-out for today."

The skeleton looked up, and though it had no eyes, Harry felt as though the eye sockets were looking straight through him. "Did you know, that I am your personal Reaper?"

Harry deflated slightly at the sudden change in subject. "What?"

"It's true. And every Reaper has to abide by the rules. No-one is above them." The skeleton informed him, leaning back in its armchair. "The big-man, Morgan, enforces them. He can be rather strict."

"Right," Harry said slowly, confusion permeating his voice. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I want you to understand," It said simply, in a velveteen voice. "More importantly, I want you to understand the severity of the situation. Will you allow me to explain?"

Harry nodded dumbly.

"Every soul has a destiny," the Validator informed him with infinite patience. "Whether that be to topple a dictator, or to pick a nose. Certain criteria," It said, withdrawing a sheet from the file and spinning it around. Harry leant forward to look at it. "Have to be met, for a soul to enter the afterlife."

"Here, here, and here," It said, pointing to certain lines on the sheet. "The basic stuff. Complete your destiny as set, experience emotion, experience a natural death. That last one is the kicker for you."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, looking intently at the sheet. It was written in some symbol based language he couldn't even pretend to understand. However, even as he read it, it shifted into English.

"I'll explain in a moment," the Validator told him. "A Reaper is given one soul to nurture and coerce into their assigned destiny, to make sure their death goes as planned. When their death does _not_ go as planned, things start to get tricky. The Reaper gets a black mark."

"A black mark?"

"A black mark," The skeleton snapped, showing the first sign of impatience. "Every unplanned death is a black mark. Seven unplanned deaths results in the Reaper being deemed unfit, and they are fired. Or in other terms, wiped from existence."

" _Wiped fro-?_ "

"Wiped from existence, _yes_." It snarled, suddenly unfriendly as it slammed its finger down on the sheet of paper. "How many black lines do you see there? _Hmm_? How many?"

Harry gulped slightly, and nervously looked down at the paper again. Right next to the name _Harry James Potter_ were six, daunting black smudges. "Six."

"Exactly. _Six_." The skeleton was silent for a moment. "Standard policy in the event of an unplanned death, is to send the soul to the moment of death and prevent the cause, allowing the soul to go forth to complete its destiny. You're a smart man, Mr Potter. Where do you think I'm going with this?"

Harry's first instinct was to deny it, tell it that it was crazy, and that if he had died before he would remember. But the facts were right there in front of him. "I've died six times before?"

"You sure have," the Validator snarked. "And each time I send you back, you've come back before your time. How hard can it be to _not_ die? Your destiny isn't terribly convoluted like some people's. Sure, it's big, but it's not complicated."

It grabbed the file and slammed it open. The skeleton ran a thin finger down a page, stopping at the section it required and tapping it impatiently with the bony tip of it's finger. "Potter, Harry James. Born July 31st 1980, 4:32am. Is that correct?"

Harry nodded, but the Validator wasn't paying attention.

"Of course it is. It's never wrong. Now _this_ is the part you need to _pay attention_ too. Destiny: Vanquish Riddle, Marvolo Tom at age one, become infected with soul fragment. Afterwards, be sent to live with relatives. Relatives grow to hate the subject because of adverse effects of soul fragment." The skull tilted suddenly, and Harry was abruptly locked into staring at the stoic bone head as it stated fact after fact at him, and continued reading without looking, it's voice rising. "Attend Hogwarts School of Wizadry and Witchcraft on September 1 1991, meet your soulmate, initiate friendship with intended soul partner, continue through schooling until the end of the year. The subject is to prevent the possessed Quirrel, Quirinus from obtaining the Philosophers Stone. With me so far?"

"Yes," Harry said. "Soulmate? Who's that? Ginny?"

The skeleton glanced back at the file and shrugged. "Some Granger Girl. Soul-Bonds aren't my department, and that soul isn't under my jurisdiction, so don't ask me. 1992; fight and defeat basilisk. 1993; initiate first soul contact with soulmate on, as cheesy as it is, a Hippogriff."

"Hermione," Harry wondered aloud, collapsing back in his armchair in surprise.

"Those sappy fools over in Soul-Connections," The skeleton ignored him, shaking its head, and letting out what could have been a chuckle, before coughing slightly and turning back to Harry. "Anyway, 1994; commit to relationship with intended soul partner, compete in the TriWizard Tournament, unwittingly assist in the resurrection of Riddle, Marvolo Tom. I think we can stop there. Here, underlined in red, it quite clearly says you are to defeat Voldemort. _That_ is your ultimate destiny. Your planned death day occurs some time in your one-hundreds. I won't give you the exact year, for obvious reasons." Sighing heavily, the skeleton slammed the file shut.

"Are you serious? _Hermione_ is my _soulmate_?" Harry's eyes bulged slightly. His best friend was his _soulmate_?

"I told you, that's not my department." The Validator said, a frown in its voice.

"Bu-b-" Harry blubbered. "Are you serious?" He repeated.

"Can't you tell?"

"Not really."

"Well, for future reference, this is my serious face." The Validator told him, the featureless skull not wavering.

Harry stared at the skeleton flabbergasted, and there was a moment of silence.

"Now, I refuse to be fired," The Validator broke the silence. "So, I'm going to bend the rules a little bit. Whenever a soul is sent back from a premature death, it has its memories of the afterlife erased. Security reasons, I'm sure you understand. Anyway, you yourself have gone through that five times already. You _should_ be going through it again, but you would doubtlessly bumble around and die again. I'm allowing you to keep your memories this time around, as the knowledge would doubtlessly be an advantage. That includes remembering the afterlife, however. And if you get any smart ideas about telling people, then go ahead. Tell people if you want. Do you _really_ think they'll believe you?"

"Ok, I get it, don't tell anyone," Harry snapped in annoyance. "You're moving a bit too fast here. I'm not going to the afterlife?"

"Ah," the skeleton said, it's voice gentler this time. "About that. You won't see them for another century or so until you die on the planned date. Should you fail your destiny a seventh time, and die prematurely, your soul shall be automatically resurrected and targeted for termination."

" _Targeted for termination?!_ "

"Your existence would be deemed a failure, and you would be considered a loose end. You would have to be removed from existence in order to prevent you from messing with Destiny any further. The only reason you wouldn't be wiped away is simply if Morgan decided to have some fun. Morgan struggles to smile you see. For an omnipotent being, he's awfully grumpy. Your chances are a bit slim on that front." It explained kindly, as if it hadn't just told him that failure meant being wiped from the face of the planet.

"And what would happen to Hermione?" Harry asked frantically. "If I fail, what happens to her?"

"Your soul-partner? She continues through life never finding love," The Validator would have winced if it could.

"Ok," Harry swallowed. "Don't die. No pressure. No sweat. Don't panic."

"That's the spirit," The skeleton said jovially, ignoring his sarcasm. "I'll give you a moment to look over your previous deaths before you are sent back."

Harry stared blankly at the skeleton, before it cleared a throat it didn't have, and gestured to a small paper file that had materialised. Harry gingerly picked it up and opened it delicately. Only one piece of paper was contained inside and he picked it up as though it might burn him, reading it with trembling hands.

 _Unauthorised Death Events. (UDE's)_

 _UDE #1) Potter, Harry James, devoured by basilisk._

 _UDE #2) Potter, Harry James, mauled by werewolf whilst protecting soul-partner._

 _UDE #3) Potter, Harry James, killed by dragon._

 _UDE #4) Potter, Harry James,_ _killed by intercepting killing curse meant for Diggory, Cedric Amos._

 _UDE #5) Potter, Harry James, fell through Gateway protecting soul-partner._

 _UDE #6) Potter, Harry James, fell to death after floor collapse._

 _POTTER, HARRY JAMES REQUIRES ONE MORE UNAUTHORISED DEATH EVENT BEFORE THE SUBJECTS SOUL IS TARGETED FOR TERMINATION._

"Any questions?" Harry looked up at the Validator, and numbly shook his head.

"Good. Upon your return, I'll know if you have any that you haven't thought of right now, and shall appear to you in private. Wouldn't do to have anyone see me now, would it? Well, not that they could see me anyway. Anyway, prepare for temporal displacement."

The skeleton stood up, and smoothed out his navy pinstriped suit. It adjusted its tie, and angled its hat as though looking in an invisible mirror that Harry couldn't see.

"You seem awfully accepting of this," the Validator remarked. "I hope you're taking it seriously. This is not something to be taken lightly. I will _not_ be fired because of you. Get it right this time. And make sure to actually end up with your soulmate this time. The boys and girls in Soul-Connections aren't very happy with you neglecting this, and neither am I. It reflects badly on me yet again, you see. What good am I if I can't guide a simple mortal to another? I've told Morgan time and time again that it is not my job to play matchmaker, and he _never_ listens."

Harry stood, and nervously twiddled his thumbs.

"You just stand there. Normally, I'd have you sign a form so that you lose your memories of this place and your past lives, but we've already deemed that unnecessary..." The skeleton murmured as it waved complex patterns in the air. The space around the Validator shimmered slightly, and iridescent purple light illuminated the dim room.

"You may think that I've gone over this awfully quickly, and I probably have, but you're going to remember every word I've said with remarkable clarity; so I advise you go over this meeting in your head a good few times to try and recall everything in detail. Remember, I'll be able to help if there are things I've forgotten to inform you of. That happens far more than you would think."

Harry was a bit too shocked to speak, and simply nodded unthinkingly. There was so much information he needed to take in. Hermione was his soulmate...and it was quite _l_ _iterally_ a match made in heaven.

But he wasn't going to see his family for another hundred years.

That very fact caused an ache in Harry's chest, but he didn't have time to contemplate it as the Validator stepped unnervingly to Harry, it's skull catching the light awkwardly, shadowing the depthless eye sockets and bone features further. It placed a gloved finger on Harry's forehead.

"Good luck," The Validator said, and flicked, causing Harry to fly backwards as though he was falling down the well of time itself.

* * *

 **A/N:**

20 points to everyone who knows who the Validator is. Keep it a secret, though. I don't want everyone to know, cause it'll really infuriate them and that makes me giggle. Don't ruin the fun.

So that's the first chapter on my take of Reptillia28's 'Don't Fear the Reaper' challenge. I hope you enjoyed it, and review if you did. Just so I know whether to continue this or not.

Special thanks to Yuilhan once more, for more amazing beta'ing. You can't tell how much it's been improved since I sent it off to be beta'd...


	2. Lost Boys and Golden Girls

**Lost Boys and Golden Girls**

The only sensation that Harry was aware of was falling. And falling _fast_.

As he fell, the office and the Validator's ever grinning skull receded away from him. His field of view increased massively only to accommodate darkness, and there was a deafening rush of wind. After about five full seconds the noise stopped, and Harry slammed into the ground, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.

Breathing hard, he cracked one eye open, and initially he didn't recognise where he was. Stone everywhere, jagged and naturally formed. Or at least it seemed to be. He rolled over and saw his Firebolt crash into the ground on the other side of the circular arena.

His Firebolt. The same broom that had blown up when he had escaped Privet Drive.

Harry barely had time to register his confusion however, as instinct forced him to roll to the side just as the large spike of a dragon tail drove home into the rock.

 _Ah. The First Task of the TriWizard tournament. This gives me a chance to change things. That is, if I can survive it again._

He didn't need to have Hermione level intellect to summarise that he had fallen off his broom as a result of his future self returning to his past body, and it didn't take a lot of brain power on his behalf to figure out that without his broom, Harry had no game plan. He racked his mind for ideas.

Harry dived out of the way of a burst of flame, and tried to think of a spell that might help him. He almost apologised for the delay. _Hold on there like a good fellow and I'll steal your egg the moment I'm able. Nice weather for it, eh?_

Was there a benefit in summoning his broom again? Not being able to think of any more options, that's exactly what Harry did and it shot through the Horntail's legs from the other side of the arena and into his hands. Mounting it in one swift move, he kicked off from the ground, and nearly hit a wall straight away, but flew against it. He felt the sharp jagged stone scratch and tug at him.

The dragon roared furiously and snapped its jaws in an attempt to eat the flying annoyance, but found itself chained in place. It snarled in displeasure, and a swish of its tail snapped the offending object; it beat its wings violently. The pressured air from under the wings was flowing towards Harry, and it took all of his strength to stay on the broom.

Harry climbed through the air, still trying to get his bearings, and with one swift beat, the dragon launched after him.

 _Okay, so I'm back. That was real? No, that doesn't matter, I'm back now. So what do I do now? Gathering the Horcruxes would be a good start. Finding out what happened with Hermione and I last time would be good, too. If we're soul-whatever's like the Validator said, then why have we never been romantically involved?_

As if reminding him of its presence, the dragon let out another deafening roar, and Harry felt his back heat up. He flattened himself to the broom causing him to accelerate faster.

 _Okay, let's worry about that later. Right now, I need to know: h_ _ow do you outfly a creature that was, quite literally,_ born _to fly?_

Harry pulled back on the handle while remaining as flat to the broom as possible, allowing the Firebolt to rocket into the sky vertically. The wind flapped his unruly hair, and billowed his robe out behind him. The steady thrum of wing beats confirmed that the dragon was still following him.

Feeling daring, Harry tugged the handle a bit more until he had done a one hundred and eighty degree turn, right over the dragon, and was now shooting directly towards the ground at a frightening speed. Harry couldn't help it. He began to enjoy himself. The weightless sensation, the rushing wind, and the _speed_ of it. He hadn't been aware of just how much he had missed flying. Perhaps if he could find a way to listen to music while flying, he could spend an entire day on a broom.

Another thought struck him. Maybe he should focus on what he was doing.

Even with that thought, Harry still let out a whoop of exhilaration as he pulled his broom back into a horizontal position. His knees skimmed some bushes, and he angled himself upwards in a way that he gained some height ever so slightly. He couldn't hear the dragon anymore, but wasn't terribly concerned with it. It must still be up in the air. There was no way it could be-

Harry screamed as the dragon reared down on him from above and gave him a mild heart attack. Recovering, he pushed himself against the broom once more and felt himself speeding back towards the arena. Angling himself slightly, he shot through the stands; curving along the wall to prevent himself from smacking into it.

Harry attempted to shift his weight on the broom to take him to the centre of the arena, but was lighter than he remembered. As such, he didn't put enough force on the broom, and it clipped the arena wall. Harry had a slight sinking feeling before he was flung from the broom at a frightening speed that caused the world to blur by, and crashed to the ground for the second time that day.

Groaning, Harry rolled over, dazed and slightly aware that he might be about to die. How was it that he managed this effortlessly when he was fourteen, but now that he had the mind of a seventeen year old he couldn't do it? He reached an arm out to push himself up, and felt it clutch something warm, hard and round. The golden egg.

 _No way._

He smiled to himself, and grabbed it with the other hand. Now clutching it in two hands, he stood up and lifted it over his head to the roar of the crowd.

And then the dragon hit him.

* * *

When Harry came too, it was in the hospital wing, and it was dark. Moonlight was streaming through the windows, and Harry briefly wondered why he wasn't in the medical tent, and where so many hours had gone. It had been ten o'clock in the morning just a moment ago. He shuffled backwards slightly and sat up. Upon realising his lack of a top he frowned slightly, and looked around, but saw the tattered remains on a chair. He gasped in pain as he shifted, and looked down to find the source of discomfort, only to see a large green square over his chest.

"You will never cease to amaze me, Harry Potter,"

Harry looked up, long gaps between breaths as he tried to adjust to the sudden pain in his back. "W-what?" He managed to get out.

The Validator sat on the foot of the opposite bed, dressed in its sharp blue suit and matching fedora. It's grinning visage was fixed on Harry. Despite its permanent expression, the skeleton didn't sound terribly happy.

"I told you when I sent you back, _explicitly ordered you,_ to not die. While you may not have died this time, your idiocy caused the spike of a dragon tail to go through your back and out your chest in the most spectacular fashion. While I am under no means happy, consider me impressed. It was quite funny. Or it would have been, if you hadn't nearly destroyed us both."

Harry scowled at him. "It's your fault. I wasn't exactly in tip-top shape, what with trying to figure out everything that had just happened. It doesn't help that _you_ sent me back when I was locked in an arena with a damn _dragon_."

The Validator shrugged. "Okay, so I wasn't specific. Sorry about that."

Harry's eyes nearly bulged out of his head in irritation. "If you had sent me back to a different _second_ and I had lost focus like I did, then I could have died _again_ , and that would have been on _you_."

"This is a turning point in your life," The Validator waved its hand, as if brushing Harry's arguments away. "It was imperative that you return to this point."

"Imperative?" Harry asked.

"Well," said The Validator. "Maybe not _imperative_ , but it does help you a lot. You're going to be changing what you see as the future drastically, and this was the best point to do so from."

"Why not send me back earlier?"

"What would be the need? You've already completed those minor parts of your destiny. If I had sent you back earlier, with you knowing what happens, you could have screwed that up too. At this point in time, however, you _missed_ something. Your soul-mate."

"Wasn't that last year? Didn't you say that? Something about the Hippogriff? I swear you said that."

"You made the _connection_ on the Hippogriff," the skeleton stressed. "But it was this year that you were supposed to commit to the _relationship_."

Harry forced himself to sit up, wincing as he did so. "Yeah, I was wondering about that, actually. Why _didn't_ that happen? If it's fate, shouldn't it have happened no-matter what I did?"

" _Destiny_ , not fate," The Validator corrected, amusement in its voice. "I don't meddle in that fate business. It's an annoyingly imprecise subject, and frustrates me to no end. As far as I'm aware, It didn't happen previously because you re-initiated your friendship with Ronald Weasley. While you were eventually supposed to do so, it wasn't supposed to be until a week _after_ the first task."

"How does that stop Hermione and I from getting together?" Harry frowned, pressing his hand to the green square, and hissing in pain.

"Well, what did you think that was going to do, make it better?" The skeleton sniggered. "And it stops the conversation you and your soul-mate would have which _leads_ to you getting together."

"Why does it stop that conversation?"

"You really aren't as bright as I thought," The Validator huffed, annoyed. "Because it annoyed her that you forgave him so easily when he'd not been acting like a true friend, like she was when he turned his back on you initially. As you well know, friendship is the most important thing in her life, and she doesn't take it for granted. Though I can find it not impossible to believe your small mind could forget something like that. Anyway, when you appeared to do just that, she felt betrayed."

"I had no idea..." Harry breathed, seeing his friend in a whole new light. "That does make sense though. We're the only friends she's ever had."

"However, because of the extent of your injury, you were sent to the Hospital wing instead of the Medical tent where the matron could treat you with ease," The Validator transitioned smoothly. "And as such, you avoided that whole ordeal. Hermione only left when she was forced to by the matron. Ronald Weasley, in an unsurprising bout of stubbornness, has yet to even visit."

"But we'll still be friends, right?" Harry pressed, not wanting to lose his friend over something as trivial as jealousy. His mind told him that it was a bit more than jealousy, but he quashed those thoughts down; not willing himself to admit that Ron could be a sheep like the rest of the Wizarding world.

"I can't see the future," The Validator admitted. "It isn't as simple as you think. Time doesn't flow in a straight line like you think. Instead, it's a bit like a big...ball, of wibbly wobbly, timely wimey...stuff. There is no one set future, but an infinite amount, where different things happen at different times. There's a future where you didn't die at the Battle of Hogwarts, and went on to marry someone completely different to your soul-mate. There's a future where you become Minister of Magic, and another where you don't. Time is constantly in flux."

Harry scratched his suddenly hurting head. "I think I get it?"

"Good," the skeleton chirped, clapping its hands together. "So I just dropped in to tell you that aside from you giving me the fright of my death, everything is going as planned. As for Ronald Weasley, that friendship should reassert itself sometime in the near future. Now you need to get some rest. You're going to have two very worried witches checking on you in the morning."

The skeleton tilted his head and doffed his hat in farewell, before he faded into nothingness. Harry grunted his own goodbye, before shifting back to lay down.

He didn't have a very comfortable night.

* * *

"Harry Potter," Madam Pomfrey huffed as he allowed his eyes to drift open. "I should attach a sign to one of these beds with your name on it with how often you're in here! Never in all my years have I had to fix someone who had a _hole_ created by a _dragon_ tail in their back! I don't know _what_ Albus is thinking, allowing that kind of..."

Harry dutifully tuned her rant out and looked back down at his chest. The square was still there, but a lot smaller than before. He rolled over in his bed, ignoring the pain to grab his wand.

" _Tempus,"_ He croaked. The silvery loops of numbers, reading _6:57am,_ lazily hung above his wand.

" _No!_ " Madam Pomfrey shouted, interrupting herself as though he had committed sacrilege. "You are not to exert yourself in _any_ manner! _No_ magic. You've just had a hole the size of a dinner plate put through you, and I'll be _damned_ if you die because of your stubbornness!"

"Damn it, woman," Harry growled, not entirely joking, his less than respectful tone a mixture of getting to know the nurse, and grumpiness from the morning after having a spike stabbed through you. "What possessed you to wake me up at this god-awful hour?"

"Burn salve," Pomfrey grinned evilly. "And _potions,_ "

Harry gasped in horror.

* * *

An hour or so after the vile potions had been ingested and Madam Pomfrey had retired to her office (to cackle manically, no doubt), the door to the hospital wing slowly creaked open, and Hermione Granger poked her head around it.

"Hermione," Harry croaked out. It was a shock to see her, really. The last time he had properly seen her was at some point in the middle of the Battle of Hogwarts, before they were separated by the collapse that had killed him. She had changed a lot from her fourth-year self, and Harry could observe that properly now.

To start with, this Hermione currently in front of him was a much healthier weight. His Hermione had been living on rationed food for a year, and had lost a lot of vital mass. It saddened Harry to have had to look at her that way, knowing that he couldn't help her anymore than he had. He'd desperately tried to get food, but he had stolen from a shop once, and the disappointment in the older Hermione's eyes was enough to make him never do it again. That was another thing that was subtly different. This Hermione's eyes. There was something in them that just wasn't in her older self's eyes. Something she had lost.

"Hello Harry," she said timidly, rushing over to his side. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, really," Harry said as if on autopilot, taking in each detail of her face as if it was the last time he was going to see her. "Considering what happened, I mean."

"Good," Hermione said, before exploding; "Then just what the _hell_ do you think you were _doing?_!"

Harry started with a jolt, and frowned, coming back to reality with her loud voice. "Erm, what you told me too?"

Hermione laughed, a horribly forced laugh, high and shrill with deliriousness as if she couldn't quite believe what he had said. " _What I told you to do?_ I didn't tell you to be run through by a _dragon_!"

Harry started to shrink slightly back into the thin hospital sheets. "Sorry?" He offered, hoping his sheepish smile would placate Hermione's ire, but shouldn't have bothered. He winced as her temper increased tenfold.

"Oh, you're _sorry_? Harry James Potter, you have no idea what it was like to see that! A massive _spike_ going through my best friends back... _and it coming out the other side!_ I thought you were dead, Harry, for a _week_ , I thought-" Hermione broke down, and started to sob.

She collapsed with a soft 'thud' by his bedside; her fists clenching the sheets tightly. Whether with anger or worry, or because she did not want to hold onto him so tightly when he was injured, Harry couldn't be sure. He awkwardly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she gratefully leant into the crook of his neck. "I'm fine. It's okay. I'm good."

"Harry, you nearly _died_." Hermione cried. "I don't know _what_ I might have done if you had."

"You're really making quite a fuss over nothing."

She tore away from his shoulder and hit him, punched him right across the jaw, pain flashing through her fist. Harry's earlier assumptions on why she was gripping the bed sheet so of tightly couldn't have been more wrong. Now he was certain it was to stop her from throttling him for his stupidity. "You are not nothing, you bloody idiot! You changed my life! You made my life better! You made _me_ better! What do you think I'm going to do when you're gone? Do you think I'm going to be _happy_? I swear to Christ, if you go, I go."

"Well," he said, honestly surprised by how hysterical she was getting, "Now you're just being silly."

"I'm not being silly!" She shouted desperately, tears brimming in her eyes once again. "I-I... I just don't want you to leave me!" She sobbed, throwing herself back into Harry's arms, thoroughly confusing him. Was she mad, or was she not?

"And I never will," Harry disregarded his confusion, every alarm in his brain telling him that if he didn't comfort her right this second he would regret it. He wrapped both of his arms around her, and cradled her close. He could feel her warm breath against his chest, and her ear against his heart.

"I'm _not_ being silly," Hermione repeated, tears leaking from her eyes. The Validator's words came back to Harry.

 _As you well know, friendship is the most important thing in her life, and she doesn't take it for granted._

They stayed like that for a while. Hermione, huddled as close to him as she could get, would whisper questions, and Harry would murmur answers and then they would lapse into an often comfortable silence. Harry was still trying to get used to the idea of a younger Hermione, and being back at all, not to mention just being fourteen again. He was running through all the things he could no longer do, say, or cast without outing himself as either a time-traveller or as someone out of the ordinary. Hermione was still trying to reassure herself that Harry was okay.

"I hope you don't plan on making a habit of punching my patients, Miss Granger," Madam Pomfrey said when she walked back into the room. "While this particular one can warrant it sometimes, it should really only be used when necessary."

Hermione's head shot up from Harry's chest, her hair flying and her face flushing with colour. "I-I'm sorry, Madam Pomfrey! I...I mean you saw that...?"

Madam Pomfrey chuckled lightly, and viscously poked Harry in the chest with the tip of her wand. Harry gasped as he felt a burst of pain jolt through him, and the small square of colour shrunk once more. "Don't worry about it, Miss Granger. When a patient is infuriating enough, they can warrant such a course of action." She turned to Harry, a smile twitching at the corner of her lips. "As for you, Mr Potter, I still need to replace that tooth you lost. Open up."

"I lost a tooth?" Harry frowned, running his tongue over his teeth and noticing the gap. He suddenly felt very stupid for not noticing it before. How do you miss something like that?

"Yes, you did." Madam Pomfrey said amused. "I used a spell to numb the pain. ' _Creciutus',_ Miss Granger. The incantation is ' _Creciutus'._ " She said, as Hermione opened her mouth to ask. She shut it again, blushing; an expression she seemed to have done more today than he had ever seen her do.

"Now hold still," Madam Pomfrey ordered. "This is the tricky part..."

* * *

Very lightly, Harry ran his tongue over the cap on his broken tooth, scared he might dislodge it before it had time to set. Pomfrey inspected her handiwork and nodded. "It'll be fine."

"It feels a little big," Harry admitted, and Hermione unconsciously ran her tongue over her own two front teeth. While they may have been shrunk, that insecurity was still there. Noticing this, Harry frowned slightly.

"That's because it is. In a few weeks you'll wear it down and have it level with the rest of your teeth, and you'll forget it's even there. Don't bite anything for a few hours - you might want to avoid eating anything particularly chewy or tough - and you really ought to stop getting into life threatening situations."

Harry had the good grace to look down at his lap. "Sorry," he muttered.

"You don't have to apologise to _me_ \- I'm not the one getting beaten up by dragons." She scolded slightly, but her face was soft.

"Can I ask why you didn't just use Skele-Grow?" Hermione piped up, sitting in a chair beside Harry's bed. She gently clutched his left hand, while his right unconsciously rubbed his chest where there had been a large cavity a few hours earlier. While it was, for the most part, healed, he still felt very weak - as though his spine wouldn't quite support him. He still wasn't healed. "And why you didn't do that when he was still unconscious?"

"Skele-Grow would have grown him a whole new jaw, ripping the old one apart quite painfully," she said absently, scanning him with her wand, and casting a couple of spells every thirty seconds or so. "And I couldn't do it when he was asleep. I needed to make sure I was accurate."

Hermione let out an ' _Oh'_ and fell back into silence.

"Thanks for doing this, Madam Pomfrey."

The woman in question sighed. "I may have my issues with Professor Dumbledore bringing dangerous beasts to the school, and I may have a problem with how you've been thrown into this tournament and how you are treated, but never mistake any of that for a problem with _you_ , my dear."

"But I'm treated well," Harry said, not believing the words even as they came out of his mouth. It was more an instinct to avoid anyone getting into trouble.

Hermione scoffed, as did Madam Pomfrey. "You're treated like an adult," the latter said. "That's not being treated _well_. The fact is, no matter how much you act otherwise, you are a child and you should be treated like a child."

" _You_ don't treat me like a child."

She smiled lightly. "Of course I do, but you seem to have this ridiculous notion that being treated like a child means to be treated with any less respect than an adult."

"Not everyone sees things the way you do." Hermione said quietly.

"And what have we always said about other people?" Harry raised an eyebrow, recalling a conversation the pair had had in second year when discussing Hermione's life before Hogwarts.

"They're idiots," Hermione couldn't help but grin.

"And your beautiful smile is back." Harry smiled smoothly, momentarily forgetting he was supposed to be fourteen. He just wanted to help her get over the insecurities of her teeth.

"You're the one who lost a tooth," Hermione grumbled lightly, though she smiled at his words.

Pomfrey snorted, and Harry looked at her.

"Nothing," she waved away his look with a wistful look in her eyes. "Just reminded me of someone that once said something very similar to a girl in this room." Her eyes started to water slightly, but she turned away and Harry couldn't be sure he'd seen it.

"So," Harry started, innocently. "When do I get out?"

Madam Pomfrey's mouth twitched, but whether it was in anger or amusement, he couldn't tell. "The Fifth of Never. You're staying here at least another week. Enjoy it, Mr. Potter. It's not like you have got _school work_ or anything _important_ to get back to, is it?"

Harry threw his hands up in surrender, and lay back down on the bed. Hermione looked torn between lying down with him and giving him a hug, kicking him to the gates of Hell, laughing, crying, and just simply sitting with him. She decided on the last three with a funny noise that Harry had to stifle a laugh at. He wasn't laughing at her, but the noise sounded like a bit like a gurgling tap, and he couldn't help but snigger.

* * *

The day passed quite quickly, and Harry couldn't help but keep glancing to the door to see if he could see a spec of red hair. His mood lightened when he saw some, but instead of his original red-haired friend he'd anticipated on visiting his bedside, it was in fact Fred and George who came in to see how he was doing; but they left before lunch. Hermione noticed this, and gave him a mixture of sympathy and a look he couldn't read. The Validator's words echoed back, and he made a conscious effort to stop it.

Hermione dripped ice cream on to her jumper and made a face. "Aww."

"Should have got you a bib," Harry muttered, leaning out of his bed slightly to take another look out through the Hospital Wing window. The midday sun was cold, and frost clung to the edges of the window. When he concentrated, he could see brief glimpses of movement as tiny beads of snow drifted past at frightening speed. Unusual weather, for a November day. Hermione shifted slightly, and they both looked out of the window together.

"I probably shouldn't have got an ice cream," Hermione said after a moment. "Technically, it's still winter. Why is this place even _offering_ ice-cream comes in winter?"

"Because there are people like you who will get them presumably."

Hermione grinned cheekily, and licked the cold dessert.

"If only your parents knew," Harry chuckled. "What would they say if they knew their daughter had a secret sweet tooth?"

The wing was warm and quiet. A bored third year girl with a potions burn sat on a bed across the room, reading a magazine. Hermione finished her ice cream, and used a napkin to dab her jumper. She'd also got some on her robe, but she didn't notice that. One wipe from Harry's hand and it came right off.

"Probably something cheeky. They wouldn't be happy though." Hermione stood up, and dusted herself off. She paused. "I'm going to see if Ron wants to come up tomorrow. It's been a week since the tournament, and while we don't talk very much at the moment, I can tell he's worried."

Harry nodded, not quite sure what the right thing to say would be. He was frozen by the idea of why the pair of them hadn't got together in the first place, and wasn't positive that opening his mouth right now was the correct idea.

"Just...give him a chance," Hermione begged. "Please."

Harry nodded slightly, and Hermione gave him one final hug.

"I've got to go to class. Professor Dumbledore gave me the first half of the day off to see you, but stressed the importance of my studies enough that I wasn't allowed all day." She squeezed him tightly once more. "Think about what I said, Harry. And please get better soon."

The click of the door acted as an audible full stop.

 _So, I'm really back. This could be very good. Very good indeed._

* * *

One of these characters just doesn't belong here...and a scene. Ten points to those who know what I'm talking about. Like before, keep it a secret. I like infuriating people.

Special thanks once again to Yuilhan for amazing beta work.

Please leave a review, reading them makes my day.


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